Friday, January 25

Who to blame when there is no one else to blame (part 2): my response to Emil Agazade

After posting this post yesterday, I received a response from Emil Agazade whose comment you can read below the actual post in the comments section. To clarify myself I wrote a response that I shared already in the comments section but also thought to post as a separate post, as I think it brings more clarity so to speak to my originally written post.

"Hi Emil,

Thank you for reading my blog and taking your time to comment on the post.

In response to you, I am going to try and dissect both of your opinions. I hope this way there will be a tat bit more clarity.

I
have read Hamilton's piece. While he might as you say be, "a dedicated
campaigner who boasts about visiting Azerbaijan's illegally occupied
territories and who does not pass on any opportunity to bash Azerbaijan" (I don't know him personally so I am taking your word for it)
he did write credible and truthful things about Azerbaijan. None of the
references he made are lies or biased and made up. And frankly
speaking, while he might have visited the territories (illegally or
not), its not about who he is, but about what he wrote and how he has
written it. You see his piece as bashing, while others see it as a
critical piece of someone's opinion who is listing known things and
known events and naming real people who are currently under threat (and also gives some credit at the end too so he wasn't completely bashing the country).

You
on the other hand, are saying that no one is perfect, so to say, and
that there are little or no perfect democracies. But who is talking
about perfection here? Surely you would accept the truth about the
current reality of journalists in Azerbaijan, and many of its threatened
journalists, arrested journalists, or journalists who are pending
trial. Surely you would also not deny the mere fact that Armenia has
nothing to do with the fact that our government is treating its citizens
in such a way and ends up being criticized by the international
community. Surely you would also accept that having Russia as our
neighbor, shouldn't stop Azerbaijani authorities from being a true
democracy. It is not about perfection, but it is about basic rights and
freedoms.

I agree that quarter of a century is not enough, but
something could have been done in a quarter of a century. Think of the
number of parliamentary and presidential elections we have had since our
independence. Why is it, that in the quarter of the century, we haven't
had one single free and fair election. Or will you argue that all our
elections were free and fair? Then why
is it that we have mastered the principles of corruption and bribery so
well in this quarter of the century, but failed profoundly in
establishing a democratic state? Could you please explain, then, why is
it that our education, healthcare and social care systems have suffered
(despite increase in state funding though miniscule to say the least
when compared to other sectors) while our ministers only got richer and
richer in this quarter of a century?

How come we have mastered fraud in this quarter of the century instead of mastering honesty?

Given our historical past that you touch upon in your piece- the brief
independence, the rights granted to women- we should have been an
example by now. But look at where we are. You think I enjoy reading
critical pieces like the one by Hamilton, that it gives me pleasure? I
am looking forward to a day when my country, your country, our country
is actually a place when none of this is happening. Where rights are
respected and where no one can say or write any of such things. But,
things are different. And not even another quarter of the century is
going to change this as long as we have corrupted minds running the
country for their own benefit.

I don't care if elections in the
UK were rigged, but I do care that elections in Azerbaijan were rigged
are rigged to this day. Just because elections elsewhere are rigged, it
doesn't give our authorities rights rigging our elections.

I am pretty sure, that having Azerbaijani territories occupied doesn't serve as basis for any rights abuses.

As
to the Council of Europe and PACE- if Azerbaijan had a straight human
rights record and impeccable history of elections and free society none
of these institutions would focus on Azerbaijan this much. You know this
as well as I do.

And do you honestly and wholeheartedly believe
in this extra powerful Armenian lobby. Alas I am not defending it, but
really? Its their fault? Its their fault that we have rigged elections?
or its their fault that we have such poor situation with human rights?

Azerbaijan,
is capable of doing so much better. And if things were really different
at home, I would too promote Azerbaijan but not now, not today, and not
tomorrow. Not until there is a real change.

There will always
be people like Hamilton. It is our job to make our country a better
place so tomorrow people like Hamilton have no arguments left with to
criticize our country for. But as long as we find someone or something
to blame and not take a responsibility, Hamilton and many others like
Hamilton will continue criticizing Azerbaijan... "

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Welcome to Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines. I started this blog in 2008.

Flying Carpets is about Azerbaijan (where I am originally from) and a little bit about Turkey (where I live). Flying Carpets its mostly politics, and rights issues that I deeply care about and want to see change some day.

I hope it offers at least a tiny bit of glimpse into a country that has so much potential and yet wasting it all thanks to its leaders.